Making My Home a Haven

Saving Money–September 18,2016

Today, for our family Sunday lunch, my sister asked me to make Caprice salad. I’ve never made it before, but I get to the house first. As I was leaving church, she said, “just slice up some tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil and put it on a plate.” I love how it looks. I couldn’t help snapping a picture. I put some salt and pepper on top, but have a suspicion that it should have some Italian dressing or something on top. Thankfully, she will be home soon and can instruct me!

We are having soup and salad bar for lunch today. I made us each a huge pot of chicken-rice soup this week. At our house, we’ve had it 3-4 times. I think they did the same. Today, we are going to finish up both pots. It is very yummy and economical. She boiled last Sunday’s chicken to get her broth, and I used some I had previously frozen for mine. Our meals have at last slipped into the pattern I like–the pattern where I cook each day, or we eat leftovers, but where we are not living on a diet of fast food as we were for a time this past summer while we were in transition. I still don’t have my freezers at my house, just the little one over the fridge, so Rob keeps doing “meat/frozen veggie” runs for me and we keep refilling it. I am going to make a menu plan for the first time in a long time this week–it will help so much since I am spending several hours per day homeschooling Ja’Ana, helping Patsy with homework, and have started a new part-time job.

We started doing DD service work for my nephew. Now that he is back to school, and my sister and brother-in-law are back into the swing of things with their jobs, they need Personal Support Workers to help care for him. We also do a few hours for my niece, but most of the time needed is for our nephew. This is a part-time job that involves helping him practice some skills, such as hygiene, safety in crossing parking lots, proper social interaction, and other goals. I am doing the most hours, because Rob is still hunting for a full-time job. (Last count, he has applied for over 50, has had 6 interviews, and still…..no job! We’ve been told over and over that the way to get into this school system is to become a substitute, and so he has signed up for that and is waiting for the training day. He wants to work in a special needs classroom as he has a lot of experience with children with special needs. People are being very encouraging to him, so that’s good.)

He is also madly working on any and all projects around our new house, such as building new canning cupboards, since he anticipates his time will become scarce once he gets a job. We are also spending lots and lots of time with all 3 cousins–might as well get to enjoy them all, instead of only one. Fun! I’m happy that we will have a little money coming in. It will stretch the savings we have a little longer, which is a good thing! I am still adjusting to the schedule, but this week will be easier since it won’t be new anymore. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to take on this task for a totally new family–I’m glad we all know and love each other already!

I weeded my little fall garden and we got a good, steady rain. Those little plants look so much happier.

I can’t think of a more perfect part-time job for you and Rob than helping with your nephew. It’s wonderful that you can get paid to help a young family member! I hope your husband finds the perfect job soon.

I love when I’m able to make something delicious that is also very economical. It feels like such an amazing accomplishment. I’m currently making crabapple jelly from some crabapples that a co-worker gave me for free. Since it doesn’t require pectin, it is turning out to be very cheap. I only need to add sugar, which I have already in my pantry (bought on sale cheap this summer). Never made jelly before, so I hope it turns out!

I’ve been reading all of your posts, but haven’t had the time to comment. Things will hopefully slow down soon, though no signs of that in the next week or two. Glad to see you are all settling into your new home!

Thank you, Rhonda. We are getting so much quality time with the kids, too, something we love to do anyway–getting paid just means we get to do it more than ever!

The jelly sounds great. I hope it turns out for you.

I’m excited that my life is starting to settle into a bit of a routine. I’m not what I would call “calm” yet, but it’s headed in the right direction! I love having internet at the house, again, as well.

Becky and Rob, I just love all of your photos of your cooking, home, and family. The part time job sounds perfect and I will pray that Rob finds something just right for him also. I have had trouble keeping to a schedule but recognize that how much smoother things go when followed. I homeschooled my two girls and hope that you and Ja//Ana have a good school year. You are very busy and I hope you can slow down soon.

Believe it or not, things are slower around here for me than they used to be. Although I am working part-time, the hours allow me to be here during the middle of most days and all day a lot. I am so glad I can spend more time homeschooling Ja’Ana this year. Already, we are getting lots done and are off to a wonderful start. Last year was not a good year, with all the stress and changes, so I have high hopes that this year will be better!

My niece and nephew have significant developmental disabilities. They qualify for a certain number of hours per month for someone to help take care of them. Our work is primarily going to be with our nephew, but we do occasionally do a few hours for my niece. There are goals that have been set for each of them. So, when we help care for them, we work on some goals each time, for part of the time. For instance, since eating is such an issue, we may introduce a new food, and try to get him to eat one bite. Today, for instance, he really, really wanted to frost a cake that was 1/2 eaten on the counter. We did. Then, he wanted to stick old birthday candles in it. We practiced counting those candles. Then, Ja’Ana lit them, and he blew them out. Twice. I think he wanted a family party, but I couldn’t oblige today:) Or, work on a a goal for chores, helping him learn one or work on one. Another thing is to help with the social piece, so we might take them somewhere out into the community. There are also a few physical needs that need to be met. We will get him to school 1 morning per week, and provide after school care a few days per week, weekend care when needed, and a few overnights per year. It goes without saying that if the Obama-care money runs out at any time, we will continue to do what we can and have been doing for free, as we have for years. It’s a real blessing that we can earn a little money right now this way and it enables us to put more time into it. This is something I can easily do myself when Rob gets a job, but for now, we are taking turns doing what needs to be done.